Hello John and All,

> I am only a new beekeeper since last year for hobby only but willing to
> learn and experiment. Last April I was lucky and managed to catch a very
> large swarm in my neighbours garden.  The swarm was directly put on 4.9
foundation and a screened bottom during a  honey flow. The swarm hive was
set away from the other 5.5 hives with
> screened bottoms and all checked weekly for Varroa, but no mites  were
found in all of these 5 months. To me this is clear enough prove that   the
Varroa mites don't like drafts and small larvae, >while the other 5.5  hives
have plenty of them.

Congratulations on your new hobby John!  I want to also congratulate Dee
Lusby & Barry Birkey for the help they have given new beekeepers!  New
beekeepers need a helping hand in today's world of beekeeping. Today's world
of beekeeping is in constant change. In the *old days* if you kept bees like
Grand Pa did you would be successful. Not today in beekeeping!
Now to why John is not seeing varroa in his new swarm. The answer *could* be
as simple as the swarm came from a treated hive. If reinfestation is not the
source of the varroa then it usually takes two years for varroa to kill a
hive if left untreated. Some research says 3 years! 5 months is simply not
enough time for a *swarm* to reach high infestation levels unless your bees
are robbing a dying varroa infested hive. Swarms which abscond because of
varroa can carry a high infestation and could possibly die in a short time.
I do not wish do discourage you but teach you. I am sure Dee would agree
with what I have posted as the information is common knowledge among us
which have been fighting varroa for a very long time. Do not use chemicals
on your swarm John and keep testing for varroa. The real test will come if
the hive is still alive a year from the next April. I will have to wait two
years from this spring to see if the SMR bees do as advertised. I can only
sit by and be told why our efforts are not going to work( 49ers sound
familiar?). It does not matter that one of the foremost bee researchers in
the world Dr. Harbo is behind the project and convinced the U.S.D.A. SMR was
the best choice for American Beekeepers(over 4.9mm cell size). SMR queens
will be sold next spring John. Why not try a SMR queen next to your 49er for
comparison?  Hi Dee!
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri
Ps. Varroa can be like ticks on a outside dog. One week you do not see any.
The next week the dog is covered.